Poem Seven

"Desert Star"

Desert Star, in the night sky-
My small hands are cupped around my eyes,
searching for you.

Dry and cracked the desolate plains around me
look blue in the light of the moon.
She is full and proud, shining for the world, but you Star-
shine for me.

Round and round I turn, my neck craned upwards-
the wanderer searching for the heavenly point.
The line drawn between body and star cannot be so far.

My hands now raised, my palms in surrender,
I speak to you-
Find me instead, I will be your fixed position.
Do not lose your bearing on me.

Poems to Share

"Wild Geese"
by Mary Oliver


You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.





"Keeping Things Whole"
by Mark Strand


In a field
I am the absence
of field.
This is
always the case.
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.


When I walk
I part the air
and always
the air moves in
to fill the spaces
where my body’s been.


We all have reasons
for moving.
I move
to keep things whole.

Poem Six

The blanket shows signs of life
a body imprint on one side.
He is curled on the other
like a dog in the sun

Birds make shadows dance across his face
from windows and power lines.
No alarms today, no plans to be late
just the sweetness of a morning.

Poem Five

Silver chimes on my ankles ring
metered steps-

Hazy grays the past remembers
and blinding yellows for future times.

Days are blush and peach and gold
heavenly light and deafening darks-
A navy drape across the shoulders
so opaque, heavy with layers.

The tall field grass, nose high
hides my scars, my knees though strong
I hide them.

Poem Four

"Szeretlek"


You are not yet here
but I can see your bright eyes
and view the world again.

I can touch your new fingers
and feel the softness of the morning.

I can smell your sweet breath
and remember the beginning of all things.

I can hear your soft cry
and listen for the secrets that you have brought me.

You are not yet here,
but soon you will be everything.

Poem Three

Holding my breath

Somewhere half on shore
half in sky

I thought it was you,
the tide pulling it in me

Not this time,
not this sky.

But when I think that I am there
you shake me, wake me,
and I

I am the reed, still and long
and still and long

and still I long
to breathe the sea

Poem Two

Clear like milk glass and honey sweet
smokey sunsets part the days
light and dark

No longer listening in silence
within my reach is half hope, half agony
a heart even more your own
than the one encased in body and bone
undeviating, never inconstant.
I am hearing your voice, the tones lost on others
are found in me.

And within my mind
the familial and the foreign come together
grace and fate